New Delhi: Army Chief Deepak Kapoor has
refused to accept a 20 percent hike in his pension provided
on the basis of his disability suffered during service.
61-year-old Kapoor was last November found to have
suffered impairment in his left ear after exposure to booming
sound of artillery guns during a demonstration on anti-terror
operation in the US in July last year.
After the disability was reported in the media, the Army
Chief is said to have written to Defence Minister A K Antony,
saying he was not inclined towards receiving the disability
pension after his retirement on March 31 this year.
The disability, which put him in a low medical category,
would have fetched him 20 percent more pension.
Kapoor had realised that he was unable to hear properly
and had gone through medical examination at the Army Research
and Referral Hospital in November last year when his
disability was noticed.
He had told doctors then that the hearing problem could be
because of exposure to booming sounds of small weapons and
gunfire during a demonstration by US troops during anti-terror
operations. Kapoor himself had fired from a few weapons during
the demonstration.
Doctors then advised him to use a hearing aid in his left
ear. They had also diagnosed that he was "fit for release from
service" in the medical categorisation 'H-2' which denotes a
low medical category where he cannot continue in service.
Kapoor retires on March 31 when Lt General V K Singh, the
Eastern Army Commander and senior-most infantry officer, will
take over.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 29, 2010, 15:27